Between the ages of four and seven, I used to make “cocolitos”. Small play-dough figures that I molded with my father at the kitchen table: first a walnut-sized ball, and then other pea-sized balls that I flattened and stuck around it. When we finished, we would undo them and put them back in the jar. All that remained was the time we had spent together.
That name is where the brand name comes from. It's not a metaphor sought after the fact: it is, literally, where everything originates.
Cocolitos is an independent brand from Barcelona that designs and produces objects for children. I founded it in the summer of 2024, after more than ten years working as a graphic designer and creative director for other brands. I run it alone: design, production, communication, and management. It is not a company with a team or investment: it is a project that has grown out of a very specific conviction.
Objects for children should not be divided into "beautiful" and "educational," as if they were two separate categories. A poster can teach the alphabet and, at the same time, look good hanging in the dining room. A bib can last three years without losing its shape. A wooden stamp can be used for first strokes, as well as for a five-year-old who already draws with intent, or for a grandparent with limited mobility who wants to enjoy playing with colors. That is the idea behind each product: objects that invite use, that grow with the user, and that last long enough to become part of their story.
Today, Cocolitos has four product lines. The LexiPlay educational posters combine sans-serif typography with connected script so that the same poster serves different stages. The EvoClic evolving bibs incorporate a replaceable elastic band in three sizes: when the child grows, the elastic is changed, not the bib. The MerryCube wooden stamps adapt to different materials (finger paint, play-dough, inks...) depending on age. And the calendars accompany the passage of time with language designed for children to participate, not just observe.
Ten years of creative direction for other brands taught me something I didn't like: you can design an object that is perfect for a photograph and useless for actual use. I saw it many times with children's products: beautiful in the catalog, forgotten in a drawer two weeks later. Cocolitos was born from wanting to do the exact opposite: things designed from how they are used, not from how they are sold. And from wanting to do it alone, so that every decision (what cotton, what wood, what workshop, what color) I could make myself, without having to defend it to anyone who didn't quite believe in it.
Our products are made with wood from controlled sources and with a chain of custody like FSC®, fabrics that comply with OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Class I (the certification that guarantees the absence of harmful substances for babies' skin), and certified acid-free papers. Production is local, in Catalonia, with nearby workshops and suppliers.
Cocolitos does not want to be an "eco" brand in the empty sense of the word. We do not use the label "sustainable" as a claim. We prefer to explain what we truly do: what certification each material has, why a product is designed to last, what "local" means in a small brand like this... and let that, and not an adjective, speak for itself.
Cocolitos is for families with an appreciation for design and education, but also for grandparents, teachers, and anyone looking for a gift that won't end up in a drawer after six months. There is no single way to be a family: there are children, and the people who accompany them, whatever form that accompaniment takes.
This is the first article on the Cocolitos blog. The following ones will talk about materials, the care of objects, play and autonomy, and what it's like to do all this alone, with a very clear conviction and a lot of work ahead. Small things for a bigger world. That is, ultimately, everything behind the name.